A Basic Folk Library - Genres

Bawdy
Black
Blues
Country Music
Cowboy Songs
Drinking
Humour
Hymns and Religious Songs
Military and Soldier Songs
Mormon Songs
Shanties, Sea Songs and Work Songs
Socialist Songs
Spirituals
Yiddish

Genres - Bawdy

LEGMAN, GERSHON "No Laughing Matter" (Bloomington, Indiana Univ. Press, 1968)
Legman was the leading scholar of erotic folk literature, dialog and song. Endless and ground-breaking accomplishments bringing this material to the scholarly community. Happily responsible for brilliantly editing & printing Randolph's long-supressed great Unprintable collection of Ozark bawdy song & expurgated verses. Claimed to have the (perhaps apocryphal) Hugil bawdy collection. Legman obituary and further information here.

LOGSDON, GUY (ed) "The Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing" (Univ. Illinois Press, 1995)
The Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing (and Other Songs Cowboys Sing). One of the finest works to come out in recent years on cowboy songs, in addition to being the first good collection of the cowboy's bawdy material. A must for anyone who is a student of cowboy music--or anyone who just likes the sound of dirty subject matter rhyming. Review here. ISBN 0-252-06488-7

RANDOLPH, VANCE "Roll Me In Your Arms" (Fayetteville, University of Arkansas Press, 1992)
RANDOLPH, VANCE "Blow the Candle Out" (Fayetteville, University of Arkansas Press, 1992)
Two volumes of "Unprintable" Ozark Folksongs & Folklore Folk Rhymes & Other Lore. Randolph provides an exposition of the material along with a discussion of its historical context, how the information was collected and some comparisons with other similar treasures. While this book (vol 2) is a bit pricey, it is worth every penny and might be the finest thing to come out of Arkansas in the 1990's. Vance Randolph page here. Note that the 2nd volume "Blow The Candle Out" is not yet out of print. Amazon review here.

Genres - Black

ALLEN, WILLIAM FRANCIS et al "Slave Songs of the United States" (New York, Simpson, 1867)
"Slave Songs of the United States", collected by William Francis Allen, Charles Pickard Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison, was the book that first introduced songs like "Follow the Drinking Gourd","Run, Nigger, Run!" "Michael Row the Boat Ashore" Roll, Jordan, Roll"(and many others) to the wider world. The Dover reprint is inexpensive and wonderful. Amazon review here and another good review here.
Dover (1995) has reprinted the original version, with a preface by Harold Courlander

COURLANDER, HAROLD "Negro Folk Music U.S.A." (Dover, 1992)
Among the first and finest studies of African-American folk music, this book focuses primarily on the origins and musical qualities of typical genres ranging from simple cries and calls to anthems and spirituals, ballads and the blues. Traditional dances and musical instruments are examined as well. Authentic versions of 43 songs are presented, along with a valuable bibliography and discography. ISBN 0-486-27350-4.

DETT, ROBERT NATHANIEL (ed) "Religious Folk Songs of the Negro As Sung at Hampton Institute" (Hampton Institute Press, 1927)
Robert Nathaniel Dett, one of the pioneering black composers and a leading arranger of Negro spirituals, was the choir director at Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) from 1913 until 1932. While at Hampton, he published "Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro" (1927), which became one of the standard collections of spiritual arrangements. The spirituals showed a different, more profound character, he wrote in his foreword to "Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro." These hymns of the slaves are "the reverberation of a great cry of soul whose burden is of age-old promises of eternal freedom, of feasts of milk and honey, and of the divine glory of a love all-inclusive." Dett believed "the slave brought with him from Africa a religious inheritance which, far from being shaken in any way, was strengthened by his American experience . . . an Oriental regard for parable and prophecy" and "an ability to improvise his troubles into art-forms." His 1927 edition of the spirituals "in their natural and untarnished settings" included both well-known songs and tunes he had collected from black congregations in the rural South and Midwest.
(reprinted 1972)

EPSTEIN, DENA J. "Sinful Tunes and Spirituals, Black Music to the Civil War" (Univ. Illinois Press, 1977)
Epstein expertly culls available documentary evidence, including contemporary accounts as well as such sources as runaway slave notices mentioning that the slave in question was a fiddler, to fill in a lot of gaps in our knowledge of how African music developed when it was transplanted to North America. The book is well-written and full of groundbreaking research. It's absolutely essential if you are interested in this subject. (Amazon review)

SEWARD, THEODORE F. (ed) "Jubilee Songs As Sung by the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University" (New York: Bigelow and Main., 1872)
The Fisk University in Nashville (for black students) opened in January 1866. George L. White (a northerner and son of a blacksmith) was musical. At Fisk, he trained a mixed chorus of 11 students which by 1870 was giving concerts in nearby cities. Because the university was in dire need of funds, they took to the road for an extensive concert tour to raise money - New York, Boston etc. The first edition of 'Jubilee Songs As Sung by the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University' was compiled by Theodore F. Seward and published in 1872. It contained 28 spirituals. The second edition, published in the same year, had 64 spirituals and the last edition, in 1892, had 139. By that time, according to the publishers, 130,000 copies had been sold. Jubilee Singers site.

WORK, JOHN W. "American Negro Songs" (Crown, 1940)
A big book of mostly spirituals, long intro material re: spirituals & blues. Tunes, lyrics, no chords. 230 Folk Songs and Spirituals, Religious and Secular. From joyous gospel to deeply felt blues, this wonderful collection contains vintage songs sung and played through the years by black Americans - at work, in church and for pure entertainment. Included are spirituals, blues, work songs, and a variety of social and dance songs.
Republished unabridged by Dover (1998).

Genres - Blues

NOTE: There are useful bibliographies of The Blues here and here.
The Blues History site here has some useful information and there is a brief history of The Blues here.
There is an article on Women and The Blues here and an article on The Banjo and The Blues here.

ALYN GLEN "I Say For Me a Parable" (New York, Da Capo, 1993)
The Oral Autobiography of Mance Lipscomb, Texas Bluesman. 2 Reviews at Amazon.

BASTIN, BRUCE "Red River Blues: The Blues Tradition in the Southeast" (Univ. Illinois Press, 1995)
Bruce Bastin is probably the leading expert on the blues styles of the East Coast of America, and this book is a superb analysis of the history of blues in a range of regional centres. Amazon review here.

BOOTH, STANLEY "Rhythm Oil" (Pantheon, 1991)
Stanley Booth is from Memphis and the book is basically a series of articles that he has written over the years about music in Memphis. He ties them together very nicely. Some neat stuff about Furry Lewis, Mississippi John Hurt's funeral, Elvis, Otis Redding, and an awful lot about Stax Records amazing stable of artists such as Booker T, Steve Cropper, Donald Dunn, Issac Hayes etc. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learned a lot. Amazon reviews here.
Reissued by Da Capo Press, 2000

BROOKS, LONNIE "Blues For Dummies"Foster City CA, IDG Books Worldwide, 19??
This reference includes what you would need to know to use a good songbook well, and to make sense out of all the tune-trading that we blues lovers love to do. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to know more about the blues. The biographies and photos alone would be worth the $24.99 cover price. Reviewed in a Mudcat thread by WYSIWYG here.

CALT, STEPHEN "I'd Rather be the Devil: Skip James and the Blues" (New York, Da Capo, 1994)
Skip James' blues sounded like no one else's. Sung in a keening falsetto, accompanied by a guitar in an open minor tuning or by staccato piano runs, James' blues was simultaneously mournful and angry. Stephen Calt's biography is a merciless look at the frustrated and disappointed man that made that music. Review here.

CALT, STEPHEN and WARDLOW, GAYLE DEAN "King of the Delta Blues: Charlie Patton" (Newton Rock Chapel Press, 1988)
This book is the final word in the elusive character known as Charley Patton. 3 Reviews at Amazon.

COHN, LAWRENCE (ed) "Nothing But the Blues: The Music and the Musicians" (Abbeville Press, 1993)
It has the appearance of a large coffee table book but, in content, it is nothing of the sort. It has excellent photos and essays by Sam Charters, Dave Evans, Dick Spottswood, Charles Wolfe, Mark Humphrey etc. ISBN 0-7892-0607-2.

COOK, BRUCE "Listen to the Blues" (New York, Da Capo, 1995)
Based on original interviews, this is filled with profiles of people like Leadbelly, Skip James, Son House and Bessie Smith. With new photos and a new discography, this book is an astute and readable introduction to the Blues.

EVANS, DAVID "Big Road Blues: Tradition & Creativity in the Folk Blues" (Da Capo Press, 1982)
An extraordinarily fine book on the blues based on meticulous, imaginative, and persistently thorough field work. The significance of the book goes beyond the blues to provide a concrete model for an analysis of other genres of oral literature in other cultures. Review here.

FINN, JULIO "The Bluesman: The Musical Heritage of Black Men and Women in the Americas" (London, Quartet, 1986)
A really interesting book. Finn is a blues musician who has read most of the basic blues sources and has put it all together into a rather bitterly written book on the subject. It gives a remarkable insight (if you can put up with the "adult" language).

GODRICH, JOHN and DIXON, ROBERT M. W. "Recording The Blues" (Stein and Day, 1970)
A seminal study of whys and whens of early recording industry. There are 'afterword' essays by the authors, with Howard Rye taking over the mantle of the late John Godrich.

GROSSMAN, STEFAN "Rev. Gary Davis/Blues Guitar" (Oak Publications, 1997)
Fans of fingerstyle guitar will love this CD and the book of transcriptions. Rev. Gary Davis has a distinctive style of playing and singing and is a very (VERY) good guitarist. A better book for beginners might be Stefan Grossman's collection of Mississippi John Hurt tunes. Still, an excellent publication. the CD that comes with the book would be worth the purchase price by itself.

HARRISON, DAVID "The World of Blues" (Studio Editions, London, 1995)
Harrison is the blues reviewer for 'fRoots' (formerly 'Folk Roots') magazine.

LOMAX, ALAN "The Land Where the Blues Began" (Dell, 1993)
You should check out Alan Lomax's book, "The Land Where the Blues Began", it is not only one of the best books on the blues, it is tells about a part of US history that seldom is written about. Reviews here.

OLIVER, PAUL "Blues Fell This Morning: Meaning in the Blues" (2nd ed.) (Cambridge University Press, 1984)
First published in the early sixties, this extensively revised edition of a classic study contains many newly recovered examples of the "blues" as well as a text updated in the light of developments over the past thirty years with respect to Civil Rights reform. Amazon review here. Other books by Paul Oliver include:

OLIVER, PAUL "Songsters and Saints: Vocal Traditions on Race Records" (Cambridge University Press, 1984)
OLIVER, PAUL "The Story of the Blues" (Pimlico, 1997)
OLIVER, PAUL "Screening the Blues: Aspects of Blues Tradition" (Da Capo Press, 1968)
OLIVER, PAUL "Savannah Syncopaters: African retentions in the Blues" (London, Studio Vista, 1970)

Paul Oliver is a major writer on Blues subjects, see the tribute page here.

OLIVER, PAUL et al "Yonder Comes the Blues" (Cambridge University Press, 2001)
By Paul Oliver, Tony Russell, Robert M. W. Dixon, John Godrich and Howard Rye. A reissue in a single volume of 3 short books on aspects of the blues originally published in the 70s by Studio Vista and long out of print.

ONDAATJE, MICHAEL "Coming Through Slaughter" (Norton First Edition, 1976)
Bringing to life the fabulous, colorful panorama of New Orleans in the first flush of the jazz era, this book tells the story of Buddy Bolden, the first of the great trumpet players--some say the originator of jazz--who was, in any case, the genius, the guiding spirit, and the king of that time and place. A haunting, fictional (very few facts known) recreation, recommended reading for anyone interested in early jazz history. Review here.

PALMER, ROBERT "Deep Blues" (New York, Viking Press, 1981)
Palmer's love of the blues shines through in this exceptional book. He's not interested in showing off his knowledge of the form (although that knowledge is exceptional); he's interested in illuminating for the reader the roots of a great indigenous art form and how that form developed in the 20th century. In that effort, he succeeds masterfully. Reviews at Amazon and another excellent review here. ISBN: 0140062238

RUSSELL, TONY "Blacks, Whites and Blues" (New York, Stein & Day, 1970)
The first serious study of interplay between black and white musicians.

RUSSELL, TONY "The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray" (Harper Collins, 1997)
A less scholarly introduction to the blues. This has excellent recommendations for listening to a variety of blues and plenty of photos.

SHIPTON, RUSS "The Complete Blues and Ragtime Guitar Player" (****, 19??)
Starts out with basic blues strums, with picture chords, then into fingestyle blues. Includes a good number of popular songs.

TITON, JEFF TODD "Early Downhome Blues: A Musical & Cultural Analysis" (2nd ed.) (Univ. North Carolina, 1994)
New afterword by the author. New foreword by ALAN TRACHTENBERG. A musical and cultural analysis, with a 19 track music CD.

WARDLOW, G.D. "Chasin' That Devil Music: Searching For the Blues" (San Francisco, Miller Freeman, 1998)
The main focus is on the Delta blues singers of the early 20th century. Review at Amazon

Genres - Country Music

HINTON, Brian "Country Roads: How Country Came to Nashville" (Sanctuary, 2000)
Hinton, an obvious Bob Dylan fan, sets out to follow country music's path and lineage from its Celtic roots in another millennium, to its arrival in Nashville, Tennessee. Review here. Amazon reviews here.

Genres - Cowboy Songs

NOTE: There is a useful Cowboy bibliography here and a booklist by Frank Staplin here.

AXELROD, ALAN and FOX, DAN "Songs Of The Wild West" (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991)
The songs, 45 in all, coupled with the works of art from The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, reflect every facet of life during one of the most exciting periods in US history. Amazon reviews here.

BIG 3 MUSIC CORP. "American Cowboy Songs" (New York, New York, 19??)
B3-4354-R3 by the 'Big 3 Music Corp., N.Y., N.Y. 66 songs no text.
*** DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY MORE DETAILS ABOUT THIS BOOK? - If so, please contact me, Ian ***

CANNON, HAL (ed) "Cowboy Poetry: A Gathering" (******, 1985)
CANNON, HAL (ed) "New Cowboy Poetry: A Contemporary Gathering" (******, 1990)
As tough, lean, and honest as those who create it, cowboy poetry has entered our culture as literature. In these selections from some of today's and yesterday's finest practitioners, Hal Cannon has corralled the best of the genre. How good is it? The poems have the smell of sagebrush and campfire in them. You can't get any higher praise. Here are selections from some of today's and yesterday's finest practitioners: Curley Clark's "The Strawberry Roan", Badger Clark's "A Cowboy's Prayer", Georgie Sicking's "To Be a Top Hand", Baxter Black's "The Big High Lonesome", and Wallace McRae's "The Lease Hound".

FIFE, AUSTIN E. and ALTA S. "Cowboy And Western Songs" (New York, Clarkson and Potter, 1969)
A nice collection of 200 songs with music lines, guitar chords and what appears to be very complete verses. B/w sketches & flourishes by J.K. Ralston. Arranged topically.

LARKIN, MARGARET "Singing Cowboy, a Book of Western Songs" (Knopf, 1931)
Contains 42 songs, including the old favorites and many rarer songs never printed before. Music arranged for piano. Includes partial scores.
Reprinted 1963 by Oak Publications

LEE, KATIE "Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle" (Flagstaff Arizona, Northland Press, 1976)
Subtitled "A History of the American Cowboy in Song, Story and Verse". A very readable, funny book, with lots of history of the West and, in particular, Arizona and Tucson.

LINGENFELTER, RICHARD E. et al "Songs of the American West" (Univ of California Press, 1968)
By Richard E. Lingenfelter, Richard A. Dwyerand David Cohen.

LOGSDON, GUY (ed) "The Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing" (Univ. Illinois Press, 1995)
See Bawdy Songs above.

LOMAX, JOHN A. and ALAN "Cowboy Songs and other Frontier Ballads"(MacMillan Co., 1938)
If you can hum "Home On the Range", you have been influenced by this book. Without it, folk music as you know it would be different. Seeing in 1908 that the cowboy's way of life was dying, John Lomax went out into the field and onto the range recording and transcribing This collection became the backbone of American folk music and its traditions. Amazon review here.

OHRLIN, GLEN and GREEN, ARLIN "The Hell-Bound Train" (Univ. Illinois Press, 1989)
A Cowboy Songbook (Music in American Life). ISBN 0252060717. ISBN 0252060717.

SILBER, IRWIN and ROBINSON, EARL (eds) "Songs of the Great American West" (New York, MacMillan, 1967)
92 songs celebrate the ups and downs of homesteaders, lumberjacks, cowboys, gold miners, railroad workers, outlaws and others. Complete lyrics, vocal score, simple piano arrangements, chord symbols. Historical notes, 127 period illustrations. Review here.

THORP, N. HOWARD (JACK) "Songs of the Cowboys" (New York, Clarkson N. Potter, 1966)
This was the first cowboy songbook published in America, and Thorp's lyrics were the beginning of the popularization of the American cowboy. This book lists 24 songs that can be learned and sung today. First published 1908.

TINSLEY, JIM BOB "He Was Singin' This Song" (Univ. of Florida, 1981)
A Collection of 60 romantic cowboy and western songs coverning the 50 year golden eera of popular standards between 1905 and 1957. Foreword by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Illus. by Johnny Hampton.

TINSLEY, JIM BOB "For a Cowboy Has to Sing" (Univ. Central Florida Press, 1991)
A Collection of 60 romantic cowboy and western songs coverning the 50 year golden era of popular standards between 1905 and 1957. Foreword by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Illus. by Johnny Hampton.

Genres - Drinking

SHAY, FRANK "My Pious Friends and Drunken Companions: Songs and Ballads of Conviviality" (Macaulay, 1927)
Both illustrated by John Held Jr. I guess you'd call these songs "barroom ballads". They're certainly entertaining, although I wish the book had tunes for more of the songs. There's a More Pious Friends sequel.
Reprinted as a single volume by Dover Publications, Inc., 1961.

Genres - Humour

GOODWIN, GEORGE (Ed.) "Song Dex Treasury of Humorous and Nostalgic Songs" (Song Dex Inc., 1956)
This is an early fake book, designed, I suppose for electronic organs. It has 740 songs, enough to make you cry a big bucket of tears.

Genres - Hymns and Religious Songs

NOTE: For more resources, see the Religion and Music Resource. For John Newton's hymns, see the Olney Hymns site.

The OREMUS searchable Online Hymnal is here.
Oremus contains public domain texts from six Anglican hymnals from the second half of the twentieth century. The hymnals from the United States are The Hymnal 1982 and The Hymnal 1940. From Canada, we have The Book of Common Praise (1938). And from England, but used in many parts of the Anglican Communion, The English Hymnal (1933), Hymns Ancient and Modern, Revised (1950), and The New English Hymnal (1986).

The Cyber Hymnal is here.
This site has over 2,700 Christian hymns and Gospel songs from many denominations. You'll find lyrics, sound, background information, photos, links, MIDI files and scores you can download. The People section is particularly useful.

DEARMER, PERCY and VAUGHAN WILLIAMS, RALPH "The English Hymnal" (******, 1906)
The most incredible collection of folk tunes was used for the hymns in this hymnal, due to Ralph Vaughan Williams being the music editor. Information about the development of The English Hymnal here.

MONK, WILLIAM HENRY (ed.) "Hymns Ancient and Modern" (London, William Cloves and Sons, 1861)
The original English hymnal. The first edition was published in 1861, and the "Standard Edition" in 1916. The 1983 version, published in Norwich by The Canterbury Press, is called the "New Standard Edition". There were also editions in 1922 and 1950.

SANKEY, IRA "Sacred Songs and Solos" (London, Morgan and Scott, 1891)
The standard nonconformist hymnal, originally produced in the USA but universally used in Britain also. The version quoted is the "revised and enlarged" version so there must have been an earlier edition.

SHELDON, JOHN "The Quaker Songbook" (Stainer and Bell, 1981)
I had to include this as it's Britain Yearly Meeting's contribution to the art. Has hymns, carols and songs of love war etc. including "George Fox" and "Simple Gifts". It's unfortunately out of print at the moment, but I've got a copy.

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS, RALPH and DEARMER, PERCY "Songs of Praise" (London, Oxford University Press, 1936)
My school hymn book and still one of my favourites. Includes poems such as "Glad That I Live" set to music as well as many hymns in common with "The English Hymnal".

Genres - Military and Soldier Songs

NOTE: There is a useful bibliography here.

DALLAS, KARL "The Cruel Wars" (London, Wolfe Publishing, 1972)
100 soldiers songs "from Agincourt to Dunkirk" with melodies and guitar chords.

DOLPH, EDWARD ARTHUR and EGNER, PHILIP "Sound Off! - Soldier Songs from Yankee Doodle to Parley Voo" (New York, Cosmopolitan, 1929)
DOLPH, EDWARD ARTHUR and EGNER, PHILIP "Sound Off! - Soldier songs from the revolution to World War II" (New York, Farrar and Rinehart, 1942)
Music arranged by Philip Egner, illustrations by Lawrence Schick. These two volumes are the standard work on military and soldier songs for the USA. Some UK and European songs which were well-known to USA soldiers are included.

HOPKINS, ANTHONY "Songs from the Front & Rear" (Edmonton, Hurtig, 1979)
Subtitled "Canadian servicemen's songs of the Second World War". Useful book for Canadian songs. Includes many UK songs as well.

WARD-JACKSON, C H and LUCAS, LEIGHTON "Airman's Song Book" (Sylvan Press, 1945)
"Being an anthology of squadron, concert party, training and camp songs and song-parodies, written by & for officers, airmen and airwomen mainly of the Royal Air Force, its auxiliaries & its predecessors, the Royal Flying Corps ... ".Originally "Music edited by Leighton Lucas and decorations by Biro. The whole set out in chronological order to present a Historical Picture of the R. A. F. through its Own Songs. Indexed with a glossary. 190 pp." It was revised in 1967 (Oxford, Blackwood, 1967, 265 pp).

Genres - Mormon Songs

NOTE: Some information on Mormon Folklore from Utah here.

CHEYNEY, THOMAS E. (ed) "Mormon Songs From the Rocky Mountains" (Austin, Univ. Texas Press, 1968)
Subtitled "A Compilation of Mormon Folksong". A great folk song book with part of scores, many humorous including the unexpected such as "Drunkards from Bonanza" and songs poking fun at the problems of polygamy.

Genres - Shanties, Sea Songs and Work Songs

NOTE: There is a useful bibliography here and a collection of Shanties & Sea Songs here.
(Note: "Sea" is taken to include any large body of water - e.g. The Great Lakes)

ABRAHAMS, ROGER D. "Deep the Water, Shallow the Shore" (American Folklore Society, 1974)
Essays on shantying in the West Indies. Surveys the importance, historical and contemporary, of sea shanties in the British West Indies.

COLCORD, JOANNA C. "Songs of American Sailormen" (New York, Norton, 1938)
Chanties and sea songs; introduction by Lincoln Colcord.

CREIGHTON, HELEN "Maritime Folk Songs" (Toronto, Ryerson Press, 1961)
Musical transcriptions and chord symbols by Kenneth Peacock.

DOERFLINGER, WILLIAM MAINE "Shantymen and Shantyboys: Songs of the Sailor and Lumberman" (New York, 1951)
For twenty years, in the United States and Canada, William Doerflinger collected the words and music of the songs of the sailor and lumberman brought together in this book. Here are over 150 rousing sea shanties, forecastle songs, and lumber-woods ballads traditional in the days of sailing hips and logging camps. Review here.
Republished by Meyerbooks, Glenwood, Illinois, 1990.

FOWKE, EDITH FULTON "Lumbering Songs from the North Woods" (Austin TX, University of Texas Press, 1970)
A collection of lumbering songs from Ontario, ajoining areas of Quebec, Maine, New Brunswick, and Michigan.

HUGILL, STAN "Shanties from the Seven Seas" (London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969)
Stan was the last living shantyman in the United Kingdom. He was also a scholar who gained his information and songs from primary sources. Referred to as the "shantyman's bible" there are over 400 tunes and lyrics here. Especially well-covered are the sailors' work songs of the 18th and 19th centuries. Good review here.

PALMER, ROY (ed.) "The Oxford Book of Sea Songs" (Oxford University Press, 1986)
This is a very nice collection of songs of the sea. The annotations are brief, but very helpful. The book was out of print, but it was reissued and expanded in August, 2001, as "BOXING THE COMPASS" Sea Songs & Shanties Edited by Roy Palmer. Good review here. Good review of "Boxing The Compass" here.

RICKABY, FRANZ "Ballads & Songs of the Shanty-Boy" (Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press, 1926)
Reviewed here.
Reprinted in 1998

TERRY, RICHARD RUNCIMAN "The Shanty Book Part 1" (London, Curwen, 1921)
The book itself is paperback, a bit bigger than A4 and contains the words and (piano) music of 30 shanties along with notes on each of them. The back page contains a list of other books from the publisher - Morris and Country Dances, Folk Songs and Singing Games but nothing of The Shanty Book Parts 2 onward. Apparantly there was a "Part 2", published by Curwen in 1926.

WALTON, IVAN and GRIMM, JOE "Windjammers: Songs of the Great Lakes Sailors" (Detroit,Wayne State University Press, 2002)
I just picked up this terrific book. Ivan Walton, a folklore professor at the University of Michigan, completed virtually all of his collecting and writing by 1952, two years before co-author Joe Grim was born. Walton died in 1968, his work uncompleted. Grimm assembled Walton's work into a fine book, full of lyrics, tunes, sketches, and photographs. The book includes a 15-cut CD of some of Walton's field recordings. This is one delightful book - Joe Offer, born in Detroit and raised on the Wisconsin shore of Lake Michigan. The book is available from here. The paperback may be a bit cheaper at some of the online bookstores.

WHALL, W. B. "Sea Songs and Shanties" (Brown, Ferguson, 1910)
Whall was a self-opinionated and crusty old mariner, but his book is very well loved. Publishers' notes: "Of all the collections of Sea Songs and Shanties, Captain Whall's is at once admitted to be the most authoritative. With a musical training, young Whall ran off to sea, becoming a really fine seaman and navigator. His musical training served him well, and his fine collection of sea shanties will fill admirers of the sea with a healthy glow of pride in the old days of the sailing ship." The 6th edition (1927) has extensive introductory notes and is thus rather better than earlier editions.
Reprinted 1974 by Brown, Son & Ferguson, Ltd. Publishers, Glasgow

Genres - Socialist Songs

NOTE: There are a number of online Socialist Songbooks, including Liberator, Raised Voices, Singing of Struggle, The Socialist Songbook and Union Songs
See also The Socialist Action Song Index.

COLLINS, MAL et al "The Big Red Songbook" (Pluto Press, 1977)
Compiled by Mal Collins, Dave Harker and Geoff White. It's a UK Socialist Songbook, probably modelled on the IWW book.

INTERNATIONAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD "The IWW Little Red Songbook" (Columbia, SC., Harbinger, 1995)
Subtitled " Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent". The current edition is the 36th international edition. Contains 103 labor songs to fan the flames of discontent from around the world, with music. Includes songs by Joe Hill, Billy Bragg, Anne Feeney, Utah Phillips, and more. Versions have been published since 1904. The following versions are available online ... 1916, 1917 and 1923. The 36th edition and a reprint of the 1923 edition are available at the IWW website here.

SHEFFIELD SOCIALIST CHOIR "With One Voice" (Privately published, 19??)
The Sheffield Socialist Choir's 10th anniversary songbook. Available online here. Some people talk about "political songs" meaning "protest songs" but there are also songs of solidarity, hope and bright prospects. The songbook contains 124 pages containing 27 songs, their words and music in choral arrangement, what they tell us about those who created them and those who have sung them, anecdotes, photos, cartoons and graphics.

Genres - Spirituals

NOTE: There is a short bibliography here and an interesting article here.
There is a major Shape-Note Bibliography here and a Shape-Note Music Resources site here.
Educational resources from The Spirituals Project are here.
The Mudcat African-American Spirituals PermaThread is here

ALLEN W., WARE C., and GARRISON L. "Slave Songs of The United States" (New York, Simpson, 1867)
The most important of all collections of spirituals by William Frances Allen, Charles Pickard Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison. Slave Songs of the United States is one of the great documents of America. Published shortly after the end of the Civil War, the songs were collected during the war, mostly from among Negroes living on the Islands off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina. An electronic text is available at The University of North Carolina.
Reprinted: 1965-Oak Publications, 1992-Clearfield, 1995-Dover Publications

CONE, JAMES H. "The Spirituals and the Blues" (New York, Orbis Books, 2000)
This book reviews some important interpretations of slave songs by authors such as Allen (Slave Songs of the United States) and Richard Wallaschek (Primitive Music [1893]). Cone then goes on to discuss the theological interpretations of the spirituals in relation to the experience of black slaves. Cone states that his purpose is to, "Examine the statement of black experience in the blues as compared with that in the spirituals, investigating their similarities and dissimilarities from both theological and historical view points". His work here is interesting because it examines the spirituals of slaves as an expression of their feelings and goes on to discuss the various meanings of God and Heaven in their songs.

CRUZ, JOHN "Culture On The Margins" (Univ Princetown, 1999)
This book recounts the "discovery" of black music by white elites in the nineteenth century, revealing how the episode shaped modern approaches to studying racial and ethnic cultures. Slave owners had long heard black song making as meaningless "noise." Abolitionists began to attribute social and political meaning to the music, inspired, as many were, by Frederick Douglass's invitation to hear slaves' songs as testimonies to their inner, subjective worlds. In tracing the emergence of a new interpretive framework for black music, Cruz shows how the concept of "cultural authenticity" is constantly redefined by critics for a variety of purposes from easing anxieties arising from contested social relations to furthering debates about modern ethics and egalitarianism. Jon Cruz is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Review here. Amazon reviews here.

DIXON, CHRISTA K. "Negro Spirituals: from Bible to Folksong" (Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1976)
Crista Dixon's book provides background and stories for specific spirituals, including their Biblical origin. It is very helpful in understanding the relationship of bondage to the Christian orientation of slaves and particularly useful with regard to allegories/imagery in this literature. ISBN 0-8006-1221-3.

DOBIE, J. FRANK "Follow de Drinkin' Gourd" (Texas Folklore Society, 1928)
Those interested in the history of spirituals should read this book. It was reprinted in 1965. A good review here.

EPSTEIN, DENA J. "Sinful Tunes and Spirituals: Black Folk Music to the Civil War" (Univ Illinois Press, 1977)
The most detailed history of African-American spirituals up to the publication of "Slave Songs of the United States". The last 2 chapters are about the 3 editors and the publication of the historic collection. The book is well documented from contemporary sources. Amazon review here.

FISHER, M. M. "Negro Slave Songs in the United States" (Russell & Russell, 1968)
Originally published in 1953, this is one of the first scholarly attempts at a thorough socio-cultural analysis of the cultural functions of the spirituals and other slave songs. The Negro spirituals and songs of the antebellum South were more than simple musical expression. They were, in Dr. Fisher's words, the oral historical documents of a people. As decoded by Dr. Fisher, the spirituals reveal data respecting their authors, their dates, their places of origin, their plans to escape, and their protest against slavery. Amazon review here. Biography of Miles Mark Fisher here.

HEILBUT, ANTHONY "The Gospel Sound - Good News and Bad Times" (NY, Limelight Editions, 1971)
A very informative book that gives the reader a genuine understanding of the origin of Gospel music. It reaches very deep into the life and times of the pioneers of Gospel. Each played their own part into evolving Gospel music to make it what it is today. Anthony Heilbut is an expert on the subject of gospel music, one of the most important musical forces in American history. His book is written from the perspective of a scholar, but one with a real passion for the music. Amazon reviews here.
Reprinted: 1997 by Limelight Editions ISBN: 0879100346. (25th anniv edition)

JACKSON, GEORGE PULLEN "White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands" (Dover Press, 1965)
George Pullen Jackson may have exhibited slight "racist" tendencies, but his White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands (originally published in 1933) and other collections (Spiritual Folk-Songs of Early America; Down-East Spirituals and Others; White and Negro Spirituals, Their Life Span and Kinship; Another Sheaf of White Spirituals) set the standard for other collectors. More details of Jackson's works, as well as some information on Shape-Note music here. Jackson published a number of other works of note, including "Down East Spirituals" (1953), "White Spirituals In The Southern Uplands" (1933), "Spiritual Folksongs Of Early America" (1937), "White And Negro Spirituals" (1943), "Story Of The Sacred Harp" (1944) and "Another Sheaf Of White Spirituals" (1952).

JOHNSON, J. W. and JOHNSON J. R. "American Negro Spirituals" (New York, DaCapo Press, 1989)
This book stays true to aural tradition and offers outstanding, non-Westernized arrangements of the aural traditional music of African American spirituals. The respect for and love of this fine music comes through in the author's comments, and the transcriptions retain the strong harmonic features that are often "arranged out" of collections of aural traditional music. Amazon review here.
Reprinted 1988 by Da Capo Press. ISBN: 0306800748.

ROACH, HILDRED "Black American Music: Past And Present" (2 vols) (Boston Ma, Crescendo Publishing Co, 1973)
A useful book, written when Ms. Roach was professor at the University of the District of Columbia. The book examines the spiritual aspects of black music, and concludes that the power of black music lies in its ability to protest and transcend oppression.
Second Edition published by Krieger, 1992

SOUTHERN, EILEEN "The Music Of Black Americans: A History" (New York, W.W.Norton & Co, 1971)
This text provides comprehensive coverage of black American music, from the arrival of the first Africans in the English colonies to contemporary developments in African-American history. The book draws on authentic documents, from colonial times to the present, to illuminate the history of black music. The book provides thorough treatment of black women musicians, including Lil Hardin Armstrong, Marian Anderson, Billie Holiday, Leontyne Price and Ella Fitzgerald. (When the book was written, Ms. Southern was affiliated with Harvard University.) ISBN: 0-393-95279-7.
3rd edition. W. W. Norton and Company, 1997 ISBN 0-393-03843-2.

Genres - Yiddish

NOTE: There is a useful bibliography of Yiddish Song here.

SILVERMAN, JERRY "The Yiddish Songbook" (New York, Stein and Day, 1982)
Melodies with chord symbols. Yiddish (romanized) words with English translations. Guitar chord diagrams.

Last Updated : 05-10-2003 16:30